On 30 November 2014, Judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya, along with two other colleagues– Judge Bhushan Gavai and Judge Sunil Shukre, travelled from Mumbai to Nagpur where they checked into the government-run Ravi Bhawan complex in Nagpur. They were in town to attend the wedding and reception of the daughter of fellow judge Judge Swapna Joshi, who is now serving in the Bombay High Court. As per the police report, Judge Loya developed chest pains at around 4 am and was taken to two hospitals. At 6:15 am on 1 December 2014, he died.

The postmortem report states the cause of death as “coronary artery insufficiency.”

However, the family started receiving calls from 5 am in the morning informing them of the CBI judge’s death. This and several other discrepancies in the events that followed his death have quite inadvertently led to a constitutional crisis in the country.

1. What Were the initial Reactions to Judge Loya’s Death?

Loya’s family did not speak to the media immediately after his death. Except for routine reportage, nothing unusual was said about Judge Loya’s death. On 3 December 2014, Trinamool Congress MPs staged a protest outside the parliament where the winter session was underway.

Trinamool spokesman Derek O ‘Brien said: “Judge B H Loya was hearing the case after Judge JT Utpat was transferred within a week of reprimanding Amit Shah for seeking exemption from appearance in court. Judge Loya had no medical issues. We ask for an independent inquiry and a forensic investigation into the death of Judge Loya.”

Sohrabuddin’s brother Rababuddin had even written a letter to the CBI expressing shock over Judge Loya’s death, but nothing significant came of it.